‘NCIS’ Spoilers: McGee And Delilah’s Valentine’s Day, New Characters, And ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Crossover Promo

It may still be a few weeks before there’s another new NCIS Season 13 episode – and it’s the upcoming crossover with NCIS: New Orleans, which also introduces Tyler Ritter as Abby’s brother, Luca – but there are a few tidbits out about what to expect from the CBS series in 2016.

First up is that NCIS/NCIS: New Orleans crossover, airing January 5, and the connection that brings the two teams together is a flight from New Orleans to D.C. The passenger and crew of a private plane are lethally poisoned, and Luca is the missing chef, so it doesn’t look good for him. It’s up to Gibbs, Pride, and their teams to find him and figure out why a private tech company was targeted. The investigation then leads to a Russian sleeper agent with whom Luca had been involved. Sebastian joins Abby in her lab to work forensics.

CBS has tweeted out a promo of the two-part crossover, “Sister City: Part One” and “Sister City: Part Two,” and it begins with Abby introducing her brother to Tony — who then arrests him. But who’s going to be the one to “break him” in interrogation, Gibbs or Abby? Plus, he’s apparently helping a Russian assassin, and Lev Gorn is back as Russian Counselor Anton Pavlenko (last seen in Season 12’s “Cabin Fever”).

Coming directly to the fans, here’s an exclusive first look at the #NCIS & #NCISNOLA 2-hour crossover event! https://t.co/BgYH88yMa3

— NCIS (@NCIS_CBS) December 17, 2015

Looking ahead to the second half of NCIS Season 13, TVLine has teased storylines coming up for McGee and Ducky. First, in a February episode, McGee is going to have problems coming up with a Valentine’s Day gift for Delilah for their first year celebrating the holiday since they’ve started living together. Earlier this season, they had to compromise when it came to parting with some of their belongings, and that’s when the others found out they argue in binary. (How cute would it be if binary somehow played into their Valentine’s Day gifts?)

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, will they be the only happy couple celebrating the holiday? Jake and Bishop are pretty much done for good, given her decision following his affair. Tony and Zoe could still be together by then, but their relationship has been played mostly off-screen as of late, as have been Palmer and Breena’s.

As for what’s coming up for Ducky, there’s an unusual autopsy, as he has to perform one “remotely when a murder occurs among a group of deep-sea divers who in turn must spend several days in a dive chamber with the deceased,” according to TVLine. That’s going to be something new, and it should make the case and subsequent investigation pretty intriguing given that it’s something that has yet to be seen even 13 seasons in on the show.

Finally, the series is apparently already looking forward to next year, as TVLine has also reported that it “is looking to add a pair of fresh, young faces to the team in Season 14… one male and one female, [who] would both be series regulars.” Given the show’s success and ratings and the fact that it’s still worth tuning in each week to watch it, it’s no surprise that it sounds like another season is pretty much locked in already — all that’s left is to make it official. But what could these new series regulars mean for the status of the team next year? Could they be looking to expand the team? Could there be another team leader? Are the new characters going to be field agents or perhaps have other roles with the team?

NCIS Season 13 airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS. New episodes resume with the crossover with NCIS: New Orleans on January 5.

[Image via CBS]